


In Vino Veritas

by towardthesun



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Drunken Confessions, F/M, First Kiss, Makeup, Nonbinary Character, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 16:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towardthesun/pseuds/towardthesun
Summary: On Vingo Veritas...that was a saying right? Kel couldn’t exactly remember, but that felt right. The loud bass of the music from the party below them vibrated up into his room and made his bed shake. Luckily Aubrey’s hands were steady as she held their face in place and swiped the makeup brush against the lid of their eye.That felt right too.Or: The one where great art compelled me to write 3947 words about Kel and Aubrey drunk truth telling.
Relationships: Aubrey & Kel (OMORI), Aubrey/Kel (OMORI), Aubrey/Kel/Sunny (OMORI), Kel & Hooligans, Kel/Sunny (OMORI)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	In Vino Veritas

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday gift for @ryujistupidhorse on tumblr. Shan your art is brilliant and an especially happy birthday to the coolest cat around!!! I hope you like what I did with your inspiration!! Link at the bottom for the fanart this is inspired by!!

Sometimes Kel wasn’t sure exactly how they got into the situations they got into. As they watched Mikhael gyrate his hips in an outlandishly ridiculous way to trap music that was sure to get the cops called, Kel wondered if he had made a bad decision this week when he took the hooligans solution to his problem. 

The problem? Kel was crushing hard on Sunny who seemed to be living in a perpetual state of oblivion. No matter what Kel seemed to do, Sunny did not notice. They had tried romantic walks in the park, quiet movies snuggled together in his room, even straight up telling Sunny they liked him. Sunny had just said he liked them too and kept walking!! It was enough to make Kel do something truly desperate, something completely stupid. He asked the hooligans for their advice on how to woo his first puppy love. 

The solution? A party, according to Vance. Somehow a party would be the perfect time to get Sunny to magically know how Kel felt about him. Aubrey and Basil had their doubts, but the rest of the group had heard only the word party, and were eager for the chance to drink, do stupid shit, and not have to worry about cleaning up in the morning. Kel had agreed just because they felt like they were out of other options. Nothing else had worked so far, so why not shake things up with something new? Besides, the basketball team had been pretty tense lately, and a little stress relief couldn’t hurt.

It had been shockingly easy to plan- a few subtle suggestions to his parents to visit his abuela and show off Sally to her and a strategic phone call made to Cris (The only person he knew with a Fake ID). Before he knew it, Kel had his parents leaving for the weekend, enough alcohol to assuage the masses stored in his fridge, and people arriving at their house in droves. Most of the junior and senior class in their small town arrived in groups of two or three, the hooligans had come early to pre-game and help set up, but the three people they wanted most to see were nowhere to be found.

Basil and Sunny had already said they would be arriving late, Polly had to drive Basil to get Sunny after all. Mostly Kel was looking for Aubrey. Aubrey, after all, was the one to come up with the final part of the plan. 

Aubrey had the brilliant idea that she would do Kel’s makeup for him. A little blush, a swipe of eyeshadow, and they would look like a million bucks. Sunny would be a fool not to fall head over heels. She had said this the day before the party as they walked back to Kel’s house by themselves, Basil staying after school for gardening club. 

Aubrey and Basil were not the only people that knew about Kel’s journey exploring his gender, but they were the only people who really knew how to react about it. Everyone else was polite, but kept their distance. Apart from the occasional question, mostly Kel’s life hadn’t changed, which was both frustrating and relieving. Even Sunny hadn’t really deviated beyond using both he/him and they/them pronouns for Kel. 

It felt nice to have someone like Aubrey, who wasn’t afraid to insert herself into Kel’s business and pushed them out of their comfort zone into what they might secretly really desire. Kel had agreed excitedly. A party seemed like the perfect place to test the boundaries once more, a gentle nudge against the barriers of who they might be. Besides, Aubrey was good with makeup, she would know how to make him look hot. 

And that's how Kel found himself drinking alone watching the rest of the school go stupid and get hammered. No one had started to throw things, and he had hidden all valuables behind the locked door to his parent’s room, but rowdiness had quickly settled in. Vance was taking arm wrestling matches in the dining room, and Kim was placing bets. Matt, a pretty but vapid boy on Kel’s basketball team, was french kissing a girl while other members of the team cat-called the two of them, and on and on. Everywhere Kel looked there was chaos, loud music, and idiotic teenagers. Nowhere to be found were either of his best friends, or the boy he had a long standing crush on. 

Mikhael continued to move his hips to the music, slowly sliding over to Kel’s side. He quickly figured out that Kel was moody because of the people that were still missing, and decided the best way to fix this was to challenge Kel to drink more shots than him. Logically Kel knew this was a terrible idea, but he was lonely and nervous, so they slammed the drink that they currently had resting in their hand and followed Mikhael back into the kitchen, a crowd of people following to watch.

Kel was on his fourth (Fifth? Sixth? Math was hard) round before a voice brought him out of his competitive state of mind. 

“HEY IDIOT!” The loud scream tore through the melee and everybody paused to look. Aubrey was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, already dolled up and dressed. Her hair was down in a long bubblegum pink wave, her turquoise bow done up high instead of slouched to the side. She was wearing a flattering blue dress with light blue accents, her makeup done to complement the colors of it. 

She looked absolutely stunning, and Kel immediately beamed at the sight of her. 

“Aubrey!!” Kel screamed back, his gleeful tone a direct contrast to her fury. He bounded through the crowd, taking the three giant steps to the doorway and throwing himself into her arms. They laughed brightly, joyous now that she had finally arrived. They decided to tell her this themselves. 

“I missed you so much! You should've come over early, cause I was all lone and then Mikhael told me he could hold his drink better me, which is so stupid, right? I’m so much smarter than him, but ‘ts fine because now you’re here! C’n we go make me look pretty now please? I want to look pretty just like you, even though you’re prolly the prettiest person I’ve ever met, so there’s no way I could ever be as pretty as you. Still you pr’mised!”

Aubrey was staring at Kel, clearly bemused by his inebriated state. Her brown eyes were sparkling. Brown. Aubrey wasn’t wearing her contacts. This was astonishing, because Aubrey rarely didn’t wear her contacts these days, but everytime she did, Kel was happy. Aubrey’s eyes were just as pretty as the rest of her, and he didn’t like when she tried to hide them away. 

They started to tell her so, but she put her hand over his mouth before they could start. Her hand was cold, and it felt nice against his flushed cheeks. She must have been cold from walking over, but she didn’t have a jacket. Kel would have to lend her one for when she walked home. That of course, was if she decided not to sleep over, but most likely she would stay the night. 

“C’mon, let’s get you ready and away from the liquor,” She dragged Kel out of the kitchen, and he followed, tripping over his own two feet. They took the stairs, pushing past another snogging couple and escaping up into Kel and Hero’s room, somehow blissfully vacant. Kel was sure he had locked it before, but it was unlocked now. 

Oh well, too late. Hopefully no one had fucked in his older brother’s bed. Something about that idea was incredibly funny to the tipsy teen, and Kel giggled to themselves as Aubrey groaned and pushed them into their bedroom. 

Once the door shut, all of the background noise of the party went blissfully silent, and Kel let out a long low breath. The party was fun, and he liked it a lot, but there was something about instant quiet that felt so good to his pounding head. Kel blinked blearily, looking around the room. Nothing looked out of place, one side messy, one side clean. One dog, wagging his tail. 

Hector was curled up napping on Hero’s bed. He gave a single soft woof as they came in, and Kel got distracted, going over to give their dog an appropriate amount of snuggles. He had put him up here so that he wouldn’t be under foot for the party, but now a swell of guilt hit their stomach. 

Hector was all alone upstairs while they were all having fun downstairs. Hector could probably hear them all yelling and laughing, and he probably wanted to join too. It was so mean that Kel had locked their baby away from the excitement. They were so mean. When they told Aubrey as much, she rolled her eyes and pulled him away from his dog. Hector flopped back down on Hero’s bed and stared at his owner with tired eyes. 

“But- But Aubrey,” Kel half whined, leaning against her and sighing, “I was mean to my  _ angel.  _ Not your Angel, I’m always a saint to that Angel, even though he says I’m not. But my angel, I ex...ex…”

Kel trailed off. He had forgotten the word. It was somewhere in his brain, but it was deep down somewhere that he couldn’t easily jump to. It was definitely a bad word, something sad that hurt, but what was it? Maybe it was good he couldn’t remember it, but they wanted to be able to. Kel flapped their hands around their head, letting out a groan. 

“Excluded?” Kel gasped and hugged Aubrey tight against him, laughing himself silly. That was it! He had excluded Hector! As the words registered in their brain, Kel looked up at Aubrey with wide eyes, a pout beginning to form on their lip. 

“I excluded Hector… why would I do that to him, Aubrey?”

“When we go back downstairs the only thing you’ll be drinking is water,”

Kel giggled and pressed their face into Aubrey’s shoulder. She smelled good, like cherry lip gloss and the fragrant perfume they had bought together at the mall last weekend. Kel wished they could bottle Aubrey scent. They wanted to smell like cherry lip gloss and sweetness too. Aubrey tried to push them away, but Kel clung on tighter, murmuring something unintelligible, even to them. It felt good just to make noises with his mouth, humming a song they couldn’t quite recall. 

Aubrey let out another annoyed sigh, wrapping her arms around Kel as well and maneuvering them over to the other side of the room. She methodically peeled their arms from around her middle and gave a gentle shove. It was barely a push but it was enough to upset Kel’s extremely delicate balance. 

Kel’s center of gravity shifted, and the room spinning in dizzying circles. They were on their back now, unable to understand when this change had happened. Luckily they had landed on something soft and familiar, a never ending expanse of purple, dotted with planets and satellites. Kel rubbed his familiar bedspread between his fingers, enjoying the difference of the texture compared to their fingertips. Another giggle spilled out of their lips, and then the bed dipped, sending the world in a tailspin once more. 

A pressure on his stomach, and Kel forced his eyes to move from the bed to his stomach. When had his eyes gotten so heavy? When had blinking become a chore? Still they forced themselves to look up, eyes going wide once more when they registered the sight above them.

Aubrey was sitting on Kel’s chest, electric blue dress riding up high on her thigh, exposing creamy skin that was always hidden before. Her long pink hair fell like a curtain around them, hiding their intimate moment from the world. She was wearing a signature smirk, her eyes in their natural brown striking straight through Kel’s heart with a perfect shot. When had his face gotten so hot, and his mouth so dry? It must have been the drinking, finally catching up to claim Kel’s head and fill it with cotton. Not Aubrey in her unconscious beauty. 

Usually when Kel got this feeling, they could push it away, hiding it under acting stupid or doing something silly to get Aubrey to laugh. Now there was no chance Kel could bury the feeling making his heart race. There was no ignoring it, no pretending or escaping from it. He was trapped under pale skin and electric blue, surrounded by a curtain of pink, drowning in Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey.

The bass thumped up from below, making the bed shake. That was what was shaking right? It certainly wasn’t Kel. They tried to focus only on breathing, taking in one breath and the next. That was easier than trying to confront the sudden rush of emotions that came from having Aubrey on top of him. It was simpler to ignore the heavy blush that flushed his cheeks- that was from the alcohol heating their belly, certainly not the girl who was too busy opening her makeup case to notice Kel’s quiet freakout. 

Aubrey turned back to face Kel her hands full of supplies. Eyeshadow pallet, applicator, makeup wipes, primer, all of it. She dumped it out onto the bed next to her and flipped open the pallet. She grabbed Kel’s jaw with two fingers, tilting their head side to side and appraising her canvas. Kel tried to hide the whimper when one of her long nails just barely grazed against their throat. 

“Hold still, dumbass,” Aubrey stated her voice far too fond for his heart, grabbing an applicator in one hand, and keeping her other hand on Kel’s jaw. They shivered. She told them to close their eyes, and they did so, despite part of them wanting to just get up and run from the room. 

In the dark behind their fluttering eyes, the world felt quiet. Not exactly peaceful, not with his heart still racing and his palms still sweating, but there was an air of tranquility. It was their secret, a safe moment that no one else could intrude on. This existed for only them. The brush was soft on his eyelids, darkening them to a shade he didn’t know. Aubrey hadn’t told them any plan, just rushed into it the way she did with everything. 

First was primer, cold and slick and new. Aubrey had to poke at their nose to get them to stop squinting. It was when she was applying a thick coat of eyeliner that she finally spoke up. 

“Sunny won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.” There was something in her voice that made Kel pause, finally able to get out of their head for just a second. That's why they were hosting this party, wasn’t it? To get Sunny to come home and visit. They thought it was the perfect excuse, all of them together at a party. Something fun. A good memory. He wanted to see Sunny, to get more time with his crush. But Aubrey’s weight was on his chest, his heart crushed under it, and he spoke before he could stop himself.

“Just Sunny?” Kel asked, and Aubrey didn’t immediately respond, twirling a thick brush lazily around Kel’s cheeks. She had started out quick and efficient, but. as the makeover went on, she had begun to lag more and more. Now she was barely working, only touching them here and there, letting her fingers dance on their skin in a way that made every nerve ending sing in harmony. 

“Isn’t that why you’re doing all of this?” Yes. It had been why he was doing all of this, but maybe it hadn’t been. It wasn’t just Sunny he wanted there tonight. It wasn’t just Sunny he had been staring at the door for. It wasn’t Sunny that was making his head spin so badly. Aubrey spoke up again, “You know he would probably hate this,”

Kel knew Sunny hated loud music. Sunny hated screaming and shouting. Sunny would have been happy to come over just for a quiet movie night, so why had Kel decided on a raging party? Why had Kel insisted that Aubrey and he have this quiet moment alone? Why could he not decide which one of them he really wanted? 

Kel didn’t have any answers, so they went for the cop out answer instead.

‘We all need some normal teenage memories,” 

“Normal teenage memories?” Aubrey questioned, tapping on Kel’s eyelids. They opened their eyes, blinking to adjust to the lowlight of the room. Aubrey was not making eye contact, looking at their face but not looking in his eyes. She was uncapping a mascara, handing Kel the bottle to hold while she leaned down and put the brush up to his lashes. Their faces were too close, he could feel her breath on his face, but he answered anyway, Doubling down on his stupid answer. The alcohol made thinking of what to say hard, but they tried to be somewhat articulate, maybe they could fool her then. 

“Gettin’ too drunk, throwin’ house parties that go too late...Sayin’ stupid shit we probably will end up regretting,” She looked at his eyes at their final words, brown meeting brown. Kel took a shaking breath, the truth sitting at the edge of his tongue. Their silly joking atmosphere had taken a sharp 180 turn, and a spark of fear curdled Kel’s belly. There was no way to stop it, no way to go back. 

“Don’t fuck with me,” Aubrey said bluntly, her nails turning to sharp points on Kel’s jaw. That oddly felt good too, the tiny pinpricks of pain steadying Kel. What didn’t feel good was Aubrey sitting back up, moving to get away from them. On a whim, Kel put their hands on her thighs, keeping her still on top of them. She stiffened, angry sparks ready to fly from her lips and anger flashing in her eyes. 

“I could fall in love with you, you know?” Kel said in a rush, the words halting Aubrey’s outrage. Kel nearly felt sick at this admittance, the unknown peering out at them with a heavy hand ready to crush their hope, “You’re an easy person to love,”

Aubrey scoffed, a bitter smile coming up to her lips. She let her hair fall in front of her face, a habit she had had since they were little. She tended to do it when she felt guilty, when she knew she had taken her teasing too far and actually hurt Kel. Kel knew why she felt the way she did now, and the last logical part of himself was shrieking at the fact that they were having this conversation while being heavily intoxicated. 

“We both know that isn’t true,” 

Kel’s brow furrowed, and he scooted to half sit up, his back resting against the headboard. They kept Aubrey caged in his lap, hands moving from her thighs to rest on her back, their arms a protective circle keeping her from running. They didn’t want to lose her again, to have her push them away and pretend like they meant nothing. If she was going to rip herself out of his life, Kel wasn’t going to let it be so easy this time. They shrugged, trying to sound casual but utterly failing. 

“True for me,” Kel responded, hating that the drinking had taken away the small amount of articulateness they had left. Still, On Vingo Veritas, right? “Think I probably loved you when we were little. ‘Ts why I messed with you s’much,”

Aubrey’s hair parted ever so slightly, and she caught her gaze in Kel’s. She leaned in closer, eyes dipping down to look at his lips, then back up. Kel instinctually bit at their lower lip, worrying it under her intense scrutiny. 

“I messed with you right back,” Aubrey whispered, barely audible even at the close distance between their faces.

It was an admission just as much as anything could be. Kel never expected Aubrey to be the person to come right out and say things. For as open and straightforward as she could be, Aubrey had always let her feelings be a mystery. Kel took her words for what he hoped they might be, and let one last secret fall out. 

“I missed you,” 

“I missed all of you too,” She answered in a wistful tone, her mind instantly trapped in the nostalgia that threatened to crush both of them sometimes. Kel persisted, bringing a hand slowly upward to cup her face. Her cheek was as soft as they always thought it would be. Her cheeks darkened into a deep rouge to match their own and Kel continued. 

“No, I missed  _ you _ , Aubrey,” He mumbled, the minute difference instantly overwhelming. It was a tiny shift, but enough to show their true hand. 

Aubrey leaned into his palm, kissing it in a rare display of vulnerability that set Kel alight. They wanted to keep her here forever, for this moment never to end. It should always be like this. This was perfect, this was everything they had ever dreamed of and more. 

“I missed you too, Kelly.” She murmured back, bringing her forehead to rest against his. He closed his eyes, letting her closeness swarm around him. They took a breath in tandem, and then they asked her a question he knew was less of a question and more a subtle permission for what they both really wanted. 

“Still feel like messing with me?” 

She answered not with her words, but with a pair of soft lips pressing against their own in a chaste kiss. Her lip gloss was sticky, but the ghostly feeling it left after she pulled away was something Kel knew he would never forget. When she pulled back, they followed, chasing after more of that feeling. Kel had always heard first kisses were awkward, no one ever had that romcom instant love kiss. 

Everyone else was full of it. This was everything. Kel went to kiss Aubrey again, but she put her hand against their chest, holding them back. 

“I always want to mess with you,” She stated, “But Sunny and Basil will be here soon, and we should get downstairs so they don’t enter into their personal hell alone,” Kel wanted to whine and say fuck the party, but they knew Aubrey was right. 

There was still a thrill that went down their spine at the idea of Sunny seeing them like this, at Sunny seeing Kel and Aubrey as a pair, and the hopeful part of Kel put forward an idea of not needing to have to choose between the two people who had captured his heart. 

For tonight, Kel was content not to have to choose. There was no need to decide the entire future in a single evening, no point in trying to plan out where everything ought to go. Aubrey climbed off the bed and offered Kel a hand that he took gratefully. Their head was still spinning, but no longer from the alcohol.

As they left his room and walked down the stairs, a part of Kel was still looking for the right answer. There was still a need inside of him for everything to work out, but Kel forced that instinct aside. Life would come when it was ready, and Kel planned to enjoy every cherry lip gloss moment until then. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kelbrey has a special place in my heart. This is the fanart https://ryujistupidhorse.tumblr.com/post/645846188789252096/more-omori-meme-redraws 
> 
> I HOPE THIS WAS GOOD If you like it leave a kudos or a comment! You can find other things I've written at @sunnysviolin on tumblr. I do lots of headcanons there.


End file.
